Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses
There are many Gods and Goddesses that the Ancient Egyptians believed in, our list is probably not likely a complete list. However, we have tried to compile as much information as possible to be complete. For more Gods and Goddesses of ancient Egypt, you might want to run a google search. Gods and Goddesses ; ; 'Amun' Pictured as Man with a ram-head, or A ram, or Man wearing an ostrich plumed hat. Amun was one of the most powerful gods in ancient Egypt. Amen’s name means “The Hidden One.” Amen was the patron deity of the city of Thebes from earliest times, and was viewed (along with his consort Amenet) as a primordial creation-deity by the priests of Hermopolis. His sacred animals were the goose and the ram. During the New Kingdom, Amen’s consort was Mut, “Mother,” who seems to have been the Egyptian equivalent of the “Great Mother” archetype. The two thus formed a pair reminiscent of the God and Goddess of other traditions such as Wicca. Their child was the moon god Khons. ---- ; ; 'Amun-Ra' A composite deity, devised by the priests of Amen as an attempt to link New Kingdom (Dyn. XVIII-XXI) worship of Amen with the older solar cult of the god Ra. In a union of this sort, the deities are said to indwell one another - so we have the power represented by Amen manifesting through the person of Ra (or vice versa). This sort of relationship is common among Egyptian gods, particularly among cosmic or national deities. It is an example of how the Egyptian gods are viewed, as Morenz puts it, of having “personality but not individuality.” ---- ; ; 'Anubis ' Pictuered as Man with a jackal head, or A jackal. Nephthys gave birth to a son called Anpu, or Anubis, and that his father was, according to some, Set; from another point of view he was the son of Ra, other accounts list Osiris as his father. Anubis was the god of embalming and the dead. Anubis was the god who helped to embalm Osiris after he was killed by Set. Thus, Anubis was the god who watched over the process of mummifying people when they died. Priests often wore a mask of Anubis during mummification ceremonies. ---- ; ; 'Aten ' Pictured as a sun disk with rays which end in hands. Aten was a form of the sun god Ra. During the reign of Akhenaten, the Aten was made the ‘king’ of the gods. In some hymns from Theban Recesion of the Book of the Dead, which is based upon Heliopolitan, Aten was regarded as the material body of the sun wherein dwelt the god Ra, and that he represented merely the solar disk and was visible emblem of the great Sun-god. ---- ; ; 'Atum ' ‘The All’ or ‘Perfection’ Pictured as Man with the double crown. The ancient Egyptians believed that Atum was the first god to exist on earth. The ancient Egyptians believed that Atum rose from the waters of chaos and created all the gods. Other stories say that Ra (in the form of Atum) masturbated his children Shu and Tefnut into existence; “Atum is he who masturbated in On. He took his phallus in his grasp that he might create orgasm by means of it, and so were born the twins Shu and Tefnut.” -Pyramid Text 1248-49. Also known as Ra. ---- ; ; 'Bastet' Pictured as a Woman with the head of a cat. Bastet was a protective goddess, the cat goddess, associated with Hathor, and also a fertility goddess. Bastet was usually seen as a gentle protective goddess. However, she sometimes appeared with the head of a lioness to protect the king in battle. The cat was a symbol of Bastet. The ancient Egyptians made many statues of cats to honour Bastet. Bastet was one of the daughters of the sun god, Ra. A great temple was built in her honour at Bubastis in the Delta. ---- ; ; 'Bes' Pictured as a Dwarf with lion and human features, or Dwarf wearing the skin of a lion. Bes was the dwarf god with a very large phallus, and was the protector of pregnant women, newborn babies and the family. The ancient Egyptians also believed that Bes protected against snake and scorpion bites. Amulets of Bes were popular at all levels of Egyptian society. He was considered a protector of women and some would tatoo Bes on their thigh. Bes is celebrated in physical sex and rooms came to be known as ‘Bes Chambers.’ ---- ; ; 'Chaos' Also known as Atum or Ra. ---- ; ; 'Geb' Pictured as a man lying down below the arch of the sky goddess Nut, or Man with a goose on his head. Geb was the god of the earth. Geb was husband and brother to Neb, and were originally thought to be in a constant state of love making. Ra grew angry with his grandchildren, and commanded their father (Shu) to separate the two lovers. The god of the air took his place, and trampled on the ithyphallic Geb, and lifted Nut high into the air. Geb was the father of Osiris, Isis, Nepthys and Seth. When Set and Horus fought for the throne of Egypt, Geb made Horus the ruler of the living. The ancient Egyptians believed that earthquakes were Geb’s laughter. ---- ; ; 'Hapy' Pictured as a man with a pot belly, shown with water plants. Hapy was the god of the innundation. Hapy was especially important to the ancient Egyptians because he brought the flood every year. The flood deposited rich silt on the banks of the Nile, allowing the Egyptians to grow crops. Hapy (or Hapi) was a masculine deity, given female properties because of the fertility of the Nile river. Without the Nile, there would be no Egypt. Due to the duality of Egyptian thought, there were two Hapi gods - one of Upper Egypt wearing the lotus on his head, and one of Lower Egypt wearing papyrus. He was usually depicted as a blue or green coloured man with a protuding belly, carrying libation jugs. He also has full breasts, indicating his ability to nourish Egypt. Despite being a hermaphrodite god, both Hapis were given wives - Nekhebet in Upper Egypt and Uatchet in Lower Egypt. ---- ; ; 'Hathor' ‘House of Horus’ Hathor is pictured as a woman Woman with the ears of a cow, or A cow, or Woman with a headdress of horns and a sun disk. Hathor was a protective goddess. She was also the goddess of love, joy, and music. Hathor was the wife of Horus, and was sometimes thought of as the mother of the pharaoh. Hathor was connected with foreign places and materials. For instance, Hathor was the goddess of the desert and the turquoise mines in the Sinai. A large temple was built to honour Hathor at Dendera. In of Hathor one story she exposed her genitals to her father, the sun god who smiled. ---- ; ; ' Horus' ‘The One Far Above’ Horus is pictured as a man with the head of a hawk, or A hawk. Horus was a god of the sky. He is probably most well-known as the protector of the ruler of Egypt. The Egyptians believed that the pharaoh was the ‘living Horus’. The ancient Egyptians had many different beliefs about the god Horus. One of the most common beliefs was that Horus was the son of Isis and Osiris. After Osiris was murdered by his brother Set, Horus fought with Seth for the throne of Egypt. In this battle, Horus lost one of his eyes. The eye was restored to him and it became a symbol of protection for the ancient Egyptians. After this battle, Horus was chosen to be the ruler of the world of the living. Another story depicts Horus and Set’s battle as more of a battle of wits and sexuality; “Then Set said to Horus: “Come, let us have a feast day at my house.” And Horus said to him: “I will, I will.” Now when evening had come, a bed was prepared for them, and they lay down together. At night, Set let his member become stuff, and he inserted it between the thighs of Horus. And Horus placed his hand between his thighs and caught the semen of Set. “-Story of Horus and Set. After Osiris’ eventual death, while Horus was growing up and planning his own revenge, Set and Horus engaged in a homosexual relationship. In one part of the myth, Set proclaimed to Horus, “How lovely your backside is.” Informing his mother Isis about his uncle’s ardour, Horus is told to catch Set’s semen rather than becoming impregnated by the murderer of his father. Set, in doing so, was planning on humiliating Horus by showing the gods that Horus would be filled with someone else’s semen. Horus and Isis’s next plan was to ‘impregnate’ Set with Horus’ semen. His mother spreads powerful unguents on Horus’ penis, after which he ejaculated into a jar, and they spread it on some lettuce, a favourite aphrodisiac to the ancient Egyptians. Set then eats the semen-covered lettuce, and so Horus (rather than Set with his first ‘attack’) becomes sexually dominant over his uncle. Set then asked the gods to bring the semen forth from the ‘impregnated’ one, to humiliate Osiris’ son. The semen comes out of Set himself, and he becomes the laughing stock of the gods! One of the best-preserved temples in Egypt today was dedicated to Horus. It is located in Upper Egypt at a town called Edfu. Note: There are many Horus type gods in Ancient Egypt, which are sometimes confused with one another. ---- ; ; ' Isis' Isis is pictured as Woman with headdress in the shape of a throne, or A pair of cow horns with a sun disk. Isis was a protective goddess. She used powerful magic spells to help people in need. Isis was the wife and sister of Osiris, and the mother of Horus. After his first attempt, Set managed to kill Osiris again and cut up his body into numerous parts. These parts Set spread all over Egypt. Isis, Nephthys and Anubis searched Egypt, and managed to retrieve all of the pieces of the body, except one - Osiris’ phallus. Set had dropped the penis into the Nile (making it fertile), where it was eaten by a fish. The god and goddesses pieced Osiris together and created the first mummy. Using her magic, Isis fashioned a replacement for Osiris’ missing part, either out of clay, wood or gold, and attached this to her dead husband’s body. Through magical spells, life was breathed back into Osiris’ body (though some dispute this and believe that Osiris was dead at the time). The goddess managed to share a time of passion with her husband who impregnating her with their child, Horus. Egyptians would have a celebration of this event, during which women would walk through the streets singing and walking with puppets that had extremely large genitals. After Horus’ conception Osiris then passed into the afterlife. Since each pharaoh was considered the ‘living Horus’, Isis was very important.Isis is often shown holding Horus on her lap. Isis is associated with thrones because her lap was the first ‘throne’ that Horus sat upon. In the Book of the Dead Isis was described as: She who gives birth to heaven and earth, She who knows the orphan, She who knows the widow spider, She who seeks justice for the poor people, She who seeks shelter for the weak people. Some of Isis’ many other titles were: Queen of Heaven, Mother of the Gods, The One Who is All, Lady of Green Crops, The Brilliant One in the Sky, Star of the Sea, Great Lady of Magic, Mistress of the House of Life, She Who Knows How To Make Right Use of the Heart, Light-Giver of Heaven, Lady of the Words of Power, Moon Shining Over the Sea. Isis has her own amulet of protection and it is is called the ‘Isis knot’. A temple was built to honour Isis at Philae. It is still standing today. ---- ; ; 'Khepri' ‘He Who is Coming into Being’ Khepri is usually pictured with the head of a scarab. Khepri was a god of creation, the movement of the sun, and rebirth. The scarab beetle lays its eggs in a ball of dung. Then, it rolls the ball along the ground until the young beetles are ready to hatch. When the young beetles are ready, they crawl out of the ball. The ancient Egyptians believed that the beetles just appeared from nowhere- as they believed that their creator god had appeared from nowhere. Thus, they thought that the scarab beetle was special. In certain creation stories, Khepri is connected with the god Atum. He is also connected with the sun god Ra who pushed the sun through the sky every day. ---- ; ; 'Khnum' Khnum is pictured as a man with the head of a curly-horned ram. Khnum was a creator-god, moulding people on a potter’s wheel. Since potters used Nile mud, Khnum was also connected with the innundation. ---- ; ; 'Ma'at' Pictured as a Woman with a feather on her head, or A feather. Ma’at was the goddess of truth, justice and harmony. She was associated with the balance of things on earth. Ma’at was the daughter of the sun god Ra. Pharaohs are frequently shown in wall reliefs making an offering of Ma’at to the gods-showing that they are preserving harmony and justice on earth. The vizier who was in charge of the law courts was known as the ‘priest of Ma’at’. ---- ; ; 'Min' Lettuce was thought to be the favourite food of the fertility god, Min. He was depicted as a god with an erect penis, wearing a feathered crown and carrying a flail. Lettuce was his sacred plant, and an aphrodisiac to the ancient Egyptians - this particular species of lettuce was tall, straight and secreted a milky substance when pressed! Another aphrodisiac was the onion. They were forbidden to the priests who had vowed celibacy, for fear that their passion might take over, and that they might desecrate themselves! Fennel, ginger, pomegranates, coriander in wine and radishes mixed with honey were thought to have aphrodisiac qualities, too. The Lotus was also a symbol of sexuality, as well as immortality and health. It was possibly even a narcotic that the Egyptians used, but it was more likely to be a sexual stimulant. Some of the more unusual aphrodisiacs included pearls dissolved in a cup of wine, baboon faces added to aphrodisiac ointments. ---- ; ; 'Nephthys' "Lady of the Temple" Pictured as a Woman with headdress showing her name in hieroglyphs. Nephthys was a protective goddess of the dead. Nephthys was the sister of Isis and Osiris, and the sister/wife of Set. Nephthys was also the mother of Anubis. She is often shown on coffins, or in funerary scenes. Some tales of sex and the Egyptian gods is on the seamier side - one of the reasons given as to why Set and Osiris hate each other was because of Nephthys, Set’s sister-wife. She was barren (she represented the desert, as did Set), and she hit on the plan of disguising herself as Isis and seducing Osiris. Getting Osiris drunk, Nephthys took Osiris to her bed, and the two had drunken sex together. Osiris dropped his garland of melilot flowers in the act of passion. Set found the adulterous goddess and the flowers, and knowing who the flowers belonged to, he began to plan Osiris’ death. The child of this union was thought to be Anubis, god of mummification. Now as the overflowings of the Nile are sometimes very great, and extend to the boundaries of the land, this gave rise to the story of the secret intercourse between Osiris and Nephthys, as the natural consequence of so great an inundation would be the springing up of plants in those parts of the country which were formerly barren. ---- ; ; 'Nun' Pictured as a Man carrying a bark. According to an ancient Egyptian creation myth, Nun was the waters of chaos. Nun was the only thing that existed on Earth before there was land. Then, the first land (in the form of a mound) rose out of Nun. Nun was also associated with the chaos that existed at the edges of the universe. ---- ; ; 'Nut' Pictured as Woman whose body arches across the sky, wearing a dress decorated with stars. Nut was the sky-goddess, whose body created a vault or canopy over the earth. Nut was the sister/wife of Geb, the god of the earth. She was also the mother of Isis, Osiris, Nepthys and Set. The ancient Egyptians believed that at the end of the day, Nut swallowed the sun-god, Ra, and gave birth to him again the next morning. Nut, the goddess of the night sky, and her brother Geb, the god of the earth, were originally thought to be in a constant state of love making. Ra grew angry with his grandchildren, and commanded their father Shu to separate the two lovers. The god of the air took his place, and trampled on the ithyphallic Geb, and lifted Nut high into the air. Nut was found to be pregnant, and was then cursed by Ra - she would never be able to bear her children on any month of the 360 day year. Thoth managed to win a game against Khonsu, god of the moon, and used some of the light of the moon to create five extra days (making the year 365 days). During those days Nut gave birth to her five children - Isis, Osiris, Nephthys, Set and Horus the Elder (not to be confused with Horus, the child of Isis and Osiris). ---- ; ; ' Osiris' Pictured as a mummified man wearing a white cone-like headdress with feathers. Osiris, the first god-king of Egypt, introduced laws and agriculture to humankind. Osiris became the god of the dead, and ruler of the underworld. Osiris was the brother/husband of Isis, and the brother of Nepthys and Set. He was also the father of Horus. As well as being a god of the dead, Osiris was a god of resurrection and fertility. In fact, the ancient Egyptians believed that Osiris gave them the gift of barley, one of their most important crops. A large temple was built to honour Osiris at Abydos. A reason for why Set and Osiris hate each other was because of Nephthys, Set’s sister-wife. She was barren (she represented the desert, as did Set), and she hit on the plan of disguising herself as Isis and seducing Osiris. Getting Osiris drunk, Nephthys took Osiris to her bed, and the two had drunken sex together. Osiris dropped his garland of melilot flowers in the act of passion. Set found the adulterous goddess and the flowers, and knowing who the flowers belonged to, he began to plan Osiris’ death. The child of this union was thought to be Anubis, god of mummification. After his first attempt, Set managed to kill Osiris again and cut up his body into numerous parts. These parts Set spread all over Egypt. Isis, Nephthys and Anubis searched Egypt, and managed to retrieve all of the pieces of the body, except one - Osiris’ phallus. Set had dropped the penis into the Nile (making it fertile), where it was eaten by a fish. The god and goddesses pieced Osiris together and created the first mummy. Using her magic, Isis fashioned a replacement for Osiris’ missing part, either out of clay, wood or gold, and attached this to her dead husband’s body. Through magical spells, life was breathed back into Osiris’ body (though some dispute this and believe that Osiris was dead at the time)… The goddess managed to share a time of passion with her husband who impregnating her with their child, Horus. Osiris then passed into the afterlife, becoming god of the dead. ---- ; ; 'Ptah' Pictured as Man wrapped in a tight white cloak carrying a staff. Ptah was the god of craftsmen. In one creation myth Ptah was a creator god. He spoke the words and the world came into being. ---- ; ; 'Ra' ‘Sun’ Pictured as a Man with hawk head and headdress with a sun disk. Ra is the sun god. He was the most important god of the ancient Egyptians. The ancient Egyptians believed that Ra was swallowed every night by the sky goddess Nut, and was reborn every morning. The ancient Egyptians also believed that he travelled through the underworld at night. In the underworld, Ra appeared as a man with the head of a ram. Ra (in the form of Atum) masturbated his children Shu and Tefnut into existence! Atum is he who masturbated in On. He took his phallus in his grasp that he might create orgasm by means of it, and so were born the twins Shu and Tefnut. - Pyramid Text 1248-49 ---- ; ; 'Ra-Horakhty' ‘Horus in the Horizon’ Pictured as a Man with the head of a hawk, with a sun disk headdress. Ra-Horakhty was a combination of the gods Horus and Ra. Horus was a god of the sky, and Ra was the god of the sun. Thus, Ra-Horakhty was thought of as the god of the rising sun. ---- ; ; 'Sekhmet' ‘The Powerful One’ Pictured as a Woman with the head of a lioness. Sekhmet was the goddess of war. She was seen as the protector of the pharaohs. Her cult was so dominant in the culture that when the first pharaoh of the twelfth dynasty moved the capital of Egypt to Memphis, the centre for her cult was moved as well. Sekhmet also was a sun goddess in early myths, as an aspect of Hathor and thereby, bears her sun disk and a cobra on her crown. Her name suits her function and means, the (one who is) powerful. She also was given titles such as the (One) Before Whom Evil Trembles, the Mistress of Dread, and the Lady of Slaughter. Sekhmet was believed to protect the pharaoh in battle, stalking the land, and destroying the pharaoh’s enemies with arrows of fire. An early Egyptian sun deity also, her body was said to take on the bright glare of the midday sun, gaining her the title Lady of Flame. It was said that death and destruction were balsam for her warrior’s heart and that the hot desert winds were believed to be her breath. In order to placate Sekhmet’s wrath, her priestesses performed a ritual before a different statue of the goddess on each day of the year. This practice resulted in many images of the goddess being preserved. It is estimated that more than seven hundred statues of Sekhmet once stood in one funerary temple alone, that of Amenhotep III, on the west bank of the Nile. It was said that her statues were protected from theft or vandalism by coating them with anthrax. Sekhmet also was seen as a bringer of disease as well as the provider of cures to such ills. The name “Sekhmet” literally became synonymous with physicians and surgeons during the Middle Kingdom. In antiquity, many members of Sekhmet’s priesthood often were considered to be on the same level as physicians. ---- ; ; 'Seshat' Pictured as a Woman wearing a panther skin dress and a star headdress. Seshat is the goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and writing. She was seen as a scribe and record keeper, and her name means she who scrivens (i.e. she who is the scribe). She also became identified as the goddess of architecture, astronomy, astrology, and mathematics. These are all professions that relied upon expertise in her skills. ---- ; ; ' Set' (or Seth) Pictured as a Man with the head of a ‘Set animal’ (unidentifiable) or Typhonic beast. Set was the god of winds, storms, chaos, evil, darkness, strength, war, conflict, Upper Egypt. Set represented everything that threatened harmony in Egypt. He was the brother of Osiris and Isis, as well as the brother/husband of Nepthys. He murdered his brother Osiris, then battled with his nephew Horus to be the ruler of the living. At certain times in the history of ancient Egypt, Set was associated with royalty. Set was not really worshipped after becoming a god of evil, but his religion was the major one for Upper Egypt until after the unification. ---- ; ; 'Shu' ‘He Who Rises Up’ Pictured as a Man wearing a headdress with feathers, A lion. Shu, along with his sister Tefnut, were the first deities to be created by Atum. He is the lord of cool air and the upper sky. He was believed to be the one responsible, like Atlas, for holding up the firmament and separating it from the earth. In his capacity as the lord of air, he is also the creator of the wind. Shu held up the figure of Nut so that the earth (Geb) and the sky (Nut) were separated. ---- ; ; 'Sobek' Pictured as a Man with the head of a crocodile and a headdress of feathers and a sun-disk. Sobek was a Nile god. Sobek was connected with the Nile, and protected the king. Live crocodiles were kept in pools at temples built to honour Sobek. ---- ; ; 'Tawaret' ‘The Great One’ Pictured as Head of a hippopotamus with the arms and legs of a lion, the back and tail of a crocodile, and the breasts and stomach of a pregnant woman. Tawaret was a goddess who protected women during pregnancy and childbirth. Many of the gods and goddesses in ancient Egypt had temples built to honour them. Other gods and goddesses like Tawaret and Bes were worshipped by people in their own homes. There is an amulet of the goddess Tawaret which people often wore, or kept them in their homes. ---- ; ; 'Tefnut' Pictured as a Woman with the head of a lioness. Tefnut was the goddess of moisture. She was the wife of Shu and the mother of Nut (the sky) and Geb (the earth). Tefnut, along with her brother Shu, was the first deity created by Atum in the beginning. She was the goddess of moisture (remember that even in ancient times, very little rain fell in Egypt) and of the warm moist air near the Nile. At one time she argued with her father and left Egypt for Nubia. Only Thoth could persuade her to return. ---- ; ; 'Thoth' Pictured as a A man with the head of an ibis holding a writing palette, An ibis, A baboon. Thoth was the god of writing, secrets, writing, scribes and knowledge. The ancient Egyptians believed that Thoth gave them the gift of hieroglyphic writing. Thoth was also connected with the moon. Thoth is an unusual god. Though some stories place him as a son of Ra, others say that Thoth created himself through the power of language. He is the creator of magic, the inventor of writing, teacher of man, the messenger of the gods (and thus identified by the Greeks with Hermes) and the divine record-keeper and mediator. Thoth’s role as mediator is well-documented. It is he who questions the souls of the dead about their deeds in life before their heart is weighed against the feather of Maat. He was even sent by Ra to speak with Tefnut and ask her to return when she abdicated her position and went to Nubia. He is also the great counselor and the other gods frequently went to him for advice. Thoth is considered a lunar deity and is often depicted wearing the lunar crescent on his head. There is a story told of how Thoth won a portion of Khonsu’s light, and this may be the reason. As a lunar deity his totem animal is the baboon, a nocturnal animal that goes to sleep only after greeting the new day. ---- Category:Ancient Egypt Category:Gods and Goddesses Category:Ancient Egyptian Gods Category:Egyptian Gods Category:Mythology